EProcurement

1
E-Procurement

• Innovation in Supply Chain Management
• BUSI 6517
• Emerging IT
• Marc-André Labelle

2
Agenda

• Definition of electronic procurement
• Benefits
• Concerns Solutions
• Keys to success
• Recommendations
• References / links

3
What is e-procurement?

• Brief definition1
• Indirect procurement
• Direct procurement /Linked with Supply Chain
  Management (SCM)
• Focused on automation processes through the
  Internet
• 1 North Carolina Government (unknown date). What
  is e-procurement?. Retrieved May 27th 2002
  lthttp//www.ncgov.com/eprocurement/asp/section/abo
  ut_ep/what_ep.aspgt.

4
Why e-procurement?

• Procurement and SCM drive a companys
  responsiveness performance in the market 2
• Aberdeen Group
• Important part of the corporation
• New age economy
• Many benefits
• 2 Aberdeen Group, Best Practices in
  e-Procurement The Abridged Report. Boston, MA.
  2001 Page 8

5
Benefits

• Tangibles
• Intangibles
• Effect on employees

6
Tangible benefits

• Decrease operational expenses
• Cut purchasing cost
• Improves/supports parallel departments and
  functionalities (JIT)
• Diminution of operational errors

7
Intangible benefits

• Business relations improve
• Competitive advantage increases
• Increase speed and efficiency in operations
• Better flow of operations
• Enhanced suppliers responsiveness
• Increase efficiency in purchase planning

8
Effect on employees

• Positive effect on employees
• Situation of empowerment
• Increase in working productivity and efficiency

9
Concerns

• Transactional security
• Trustworthiness of suppliers
• High Cost of technology and infrastructure
• Who is responsible
• Wrong choice of supplier

10
Possible Solutions

• Use of encryption
• Transact with known suppliers
• Installation of a corporate firewall

11
Keys to success3

• Good planning
• Planning is not a virtue, its a necessary evil
• Need the support from
• Top management
• Front-line employees
• Suppliers
• Assign the responsibility
• Measure
• 3 Aberdeen Group, Best Practices in
  e-Procurement The Abridged Report. Boston, MA.
  2001 Page 12

12
Recommendations

• Every enterprise has different needs,
  capabilities, constraints and organizational and
  supply chain structures4 Aberdeen Group Inc
• Overall, larger risk not too implement
  e-procurement system
• 4 Aberdeen Group, Best Practices in
  e-Procurement The Abridged Report. Boston, MA.
  2001 Page 15

13
Additional Information

• To consult references and further information on
  e-procurement, please visit
• http//www.cs.dal.ca/labelle/
• And click on the BUSI 6517 internal link
• Thank you

14
References

• Aberdeen Group, Best Practices in e-Procurement
  The Abridged Report. Boston, MA. 2001
• North Carolina Government (unknown date). What is
  e-procurement?. Retrieved May 27th 2002
  lthttp//www.ncgov.com/eprocurement/asp/section/abo
  ut_ep/what_ep.aspgt.
• Catalog-International, Business Benefits in
  E-procurement. 2001